The state's Superior Court rejected a Washington County man's appeal to overturn his conviction for killing a motorcyclist on Route 8.

Michael T. Burns, 39, of Houston was found guilty by a Butler County jury last year of running a red light at an intersection and driving a truck into and killing a motorcyclist in July 2016. But in his appeal that was ultimately rejected by the court, Burns argued there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

The charges included homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, failure to stop at a red signal, and three counts of operating a vehicle with hazardous brake systems.

Judge William Shaffer initially sentenced Burns to three to six months incarceration but paroled him and ordered him to serve six months on house arrest. In addition, Burns will be on probation for eight-and-a-half years and must complete 250 hours of community service.

In Burns' appeal, filed over the summer, he asked the Superior Court to find there was insufficient evidence on all charges to find him guilty.

Burns further requested that the higher court determine if evidence was lacking in the state's case establishing he acted recklessly in causing the death of Dale T. Major.

“In this case, there were no surrounding circumstances that have been held to be sufficient to show criminal recklessness, such as driving at unsafe speed, driving while intoxicated, falling asleep at the wheel, driving in the wrong lane of traffic, reckless or careless driving or failing to yield,” Burns' lawyer, Al Lindsay, wrote in the appeal. “That is, Mr. Burns' actions do not evidence a conscious disregard for human life.”

But the higher court disagreed in its Sept. 11 decision and said Burns is not entitled to any relief.

During Burns' three day trial, prosecutors and defense wrangled over the use of a faulty braking system.

Burns' defense argued that the fault was on Burns' employer. But prosecutors said Burns was a 15-year truck driving veteran who should have known better and performed the proper tests to determine the condition of the brakes.

Central to the case was Middlesex Township police officer Conrad Pfeifer, who testified as an expert witness. Pfeifer told jurors the Sterling truck Burns drove that day was obviously unfit for the heavy-load task.

But in Burns' appeal to the Superior Court, his defense team claims presiding Judge William Shaffer should not have permitted Pfeifer to be entered as an expert witness during the trial.

In its ruling the state's Superior Court “supports the trial court's finding that Burns's failure to perform an adequate pretrip inspection (particularly with regard to the air compressor's brake connection) was a gross deviation from the standard of conduct expected from an experienced CDL driver.”

The court also addressed Burns' arguments that he wasn't to be blamed for a faulty brake system.

“We cannot agree with Burns's assertion that the vehicle accident in this case was an 'obscure consequence' of a failure to check the brake system” and that the jury made a reasonable conclusion in blaming Burns' recklessness for Major's death. Lindsay, Burns' lawyer, didn't respond to a request for comment. He has 30 days to appeal the decision to the state's Supreme Court.